Katelina stared after him until she heard the cellar door slam. Something crinkled in her hand and she looked down to see what he’d given her, only to find cold, green bills.
Money. He’d given her money.
She wanted to fling it back in his face and scream at him that she hated him, that he was a monster, and that she could never love him, but her aching chest belied that statement. She fought back both tears and the desire to run after him; neither one would be productive.
With a shaking breath, she shoved the damn money in her pocket, then grabbed her bag and headed outside to wait for Loren.
**********
Chapter Eight
Katelina stood by the road and waited impatiently for Loren to appear. Above her, the sky slowly changed from deep purple to dark black, and the moon rose to peek over the line of trees. The winter air was sharp and clear, and it made everything around her feel so real. Every rock, every shadow stood out with a crystal clarity that she was sure she’d remember forever. She thought that, even years from now, she’d still be able to recall the way the bare trees swayed in the breeze, or how the sound of distant, flapping plastic seemed to echo on forever and ever.
But whether she remembered or not, she was certain the world would. Long after she’d ceased to be, the very earth would remember that she’d stood in this spot while the moon watched silently, as it had for millennia; recording all but never passing judgment.
A door banged open, then closed, and Katelina looked hopefully towards the tiny house. Jorick appeared, but he never looked back to where she stood. Instead, he loped effortlessly through the tangled grass, towards the stand of icy trees, along the same path they’d walked last night. With his hands in his pockets and his long raven hair blowing behind him in ribbons of night, he faded into the darkness, until there wasn’t even the sound of his footsteps left behind. Katelina’s final memory of him would be his black silhouette melting into the shadows; a phantom of the night, accidently conjured and now gone back to his dark haunts.
Time passed. She tried to convince herself that she was happy to go home. She’d be back in reality with Laundromats and coffee machines and computers. She even made a mental list of what she’d do when she got there. First, she’d go to her mother’s house. And then she’d move somewhere far away; to a place where Patrick and Sarah’s memories didn’t cling – a place where dreams of dark vampire eyes wouldn’t haunt her.
She saw the lights just before she heard the motor. As the car drew closer and closer, she glanced more than once at the trees and willed Jorick to stop this. It wasn’t too late. He could still come tearing across the lawn and order her to stay.
But he didn’t.
The car pulled into the driveway, though it wasn’t Loren’s. It was the small silver car that Kariss had been in. Katelina took a nervous step back and looked for Jorick again. Was this part of the plan? Because, if it was, no one had mentioned it to her.
Something felt very wrong. She couldn’t explain it, but there was a feeling so sinister as to be almost tangible. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she took another retreating step, and then another.
She continued to back towards the house, her eyes locked steadily on the small car. The passenger door opened and a man climbed out. He seemed to go on and on as he stretched to his full height. His leather jacket was dull in the darkness and his short brown hair was cropped close to his skull. She recognized him vaguely as one of Kariss’s “friends”, but she had no idea who he was, or why he was there.
As if to answer her, he gave her a tight smile, the trademark of a vampire, and said warmly, “There you are.”
“Yeah,” she replied slowly and continued to move backwards. She threw a glance to the small house, trying to judge the distance, and wished she’d stayed closer to it. She’d been so hurt and angry that she’d wanted to escape as far away as she could. Smart move.
“Well, come on, let's get going,” he coaxed, his voice still friendly.
But she didn’t want to go with him. “Who are you? Where’s Loren? Why are you here?”
He seemed only slightly annoyed at her questions. “I’m Adam. They needed Kariss back at the war coven, so she and Loren left. He asked if we’d stop and give you a ride first. So, come on, we need to go so we can catch up with them.”
She shook her head no, but then a voice filled her mind, warm and reassuring. “It’s all right. You can trust them. You saw them with Kariss and Loren. Jorick would trust them.”
“No,” she said aloud. “No, he wouldn’t. He doesn’t trust anyone.”
Adam’s eyes narrowed, but his smile stayed. “What?”
After her run in with Kateesha she knew what was going on. It was just like what Jorick had done to those teenage girls. Someone, Adam maybe, was trying to put thoughts into her head, and that was all the proof she needed about his intentions.
She imagined a brick wall and tried to hide behind it as she mentally shoved the foreign thoughts away. She tried to compensate for her fear with volume, but it made her voice too loud. “Actually, I’ve changed my mind.” She took another step back. “Thanks anyway, but I'm staying.”
Adam frowned and glanced back in the car, no doubt to the driver. A moment passed, then he gave a quick nod and looked back at her. “I don’t really think that’s an option for you, is it?”
She had to force her words past the lump of fear in her throat. “Oh, I think it is.”
Adam pressed his lips together in irritation. As the veneer of false friendly disappeared from his face, so did the warm, cheerful feeling in her mind, as though he’d flipped a switch and shut the light off. With it gone, the fear escalated into pure panic, and her retreat quickened.
He stepped towards her, and that was enough. She gave up any pretense of bravery and all out fled towards the sanctuary of the small house, flinging her bag from her as she ran. Her feet flew over the uneven ground, but she could feel him closing in on her; drawing nearer with each gasping breath that passed her lips. And then, hands as hard as steel gripped her legs and slammed her into the ground. Stars exploded behind her closed eyes and her teeth slammed together violently as her face smashed into the snow.
She tried to struggle loose, but he threw his bulk on top of her and pinned her to the ground. With the air knocked out of her, she struggled to breathe around the dead scream trapped in her lungs. Try as she might, she only managed a grating gasp.
Adam wrapped his fist in her hair and pulled her head back to expose her throat. Cold metal pressed against the soft skin, just above her collarbone, and he hissed in her ear, “I don't think you want to make a sound.”
She swallowed hard, and tried to calm the pounding of her heart long enough to think. But what was there to think about? What escape plan could there be at this point? So, she nodded mutely and agreed to stay silent.
The weight pressing her down slowly lifted, and then Adam pulled her painfully to her feet by her hair. She struggled by reflex, and her eyes darted around the yard in search of either an escape or a rescuing angel. She couldn’t believe this was really happening to her. It seemed like a bad plot twist in a B-rated horror movie; the kind where the blood was a little too red and the villains a little too evil.
Adam kept the knife pressed to her throat as he pulled her back to the waiting car. When they drew near, the driver door opened and a Cockney accent declared, “That was too easy. There's no way.”
They came to a stop and Adam glared at his invisible companion. “Well, do you see him, Nirel?”
“No,” he agreed, reluctantly. “But it could be a trap. Tie ‘er up and put ‘er in the back.”
“No,” Katelina moaned in disbelief. “You have to be kidding.”
“Kidding?” Adam seemed confused. “What?”
Nirel climbed out; tall and lanky with red hair and shifty eyes, the second of Kariss’s friends from the other night. “Just ignore ‘er,” he ordered as he produced a length of cord. “Now ‘o
ld ‘er ‘ands.”
Katelina struggled to get free, but Adam pressed the knife harder against her throat and she stopped. The pressure was so great that she could barely swallow, and she gagged on her own saliva.
Nirel tied her hands quickly, and then they stuffed her, face down, into the backseat. They stood outside talking for a moment, though she couldn’t distinguish their words, and then they climbed back into their respective seats.
“You’re right, there’s no need to stand out there,” Adam agreed to some unheard point.
“No, there ain’t.” Nirel peered through the windshield. “Just wish I knew what ‘e was up to.”
The car seat stank of dirt and mildew, and Katelina tried not to choke. She stared at the vampires’ backs and struggled to understand why Kariss would do this. Was it because she wanted Jorick to join Oren and his war? Did Loren know? Had he agreed to this?
Questions without answers raced through her mind and minutes became aching hours. Nirel and Adam talked intermittently, but it was always the same words. “This is a trap”, “Maybe not”, “Then where is ‘e? ‘e’s supposed to be ‘ere.”
Katelina tried to move but, when she made the slightest noise, Adam reached around and whacked her on the back of the head. By the third time, she could see strange spots before her eyes and decided she should stay still.
Adam glanced back at her, then to his partner. “Look, the guy's not here! He left. So let’s just take her and go.”
“Oh yeah?” Nirel asked sarcastically. “And where did ‘e go? Visitin’ the beach maybe?"
“I don’t know! Her mind’s all a sloppy mess. All I can get is that he left and he’s not coming back! So come on! We’re just wasting time!”
Nirel scowled. “You’re sure ‘e’s not comin’ back? Like, not ever comin’ back?”
“No,” Adam snapped testily. “He’ll come back eventually.”
“Good. ‘e’s supposed to see us take her, remember? If we just stroll out now, ‘ow will ‘e know she’s been taken? After all, she’s supposed to be going somewhere, or she wouldn’t need a ride. It might be days before ‘e finds out. Just stick to the plan.”
“The plan’s not gonna work now!”
Nirel ground his teeth noisily. “All right, you got a better idea?”
“Yes,” Adam agreed slowly. “I do.” Katelina could hear the smile in his voice. “He didn’t set a trap for us, but it doesn’t mean we can’t set one for him. Why just take her as bait? Why not get him tonight and be done with it?”
Nirel’s answer was slow in coming, and when he finally spoke his voice was tight. “If we fuck this up she'll kill us, you know that?”
“Then let’s not fuck it up, huh?”
They reached a silent agreement and the car doors opened and closed. Adam hauled Katelina out of the car by the back of her coat, and heaved her over his bulky shoulder like a piece of luggage. “And as for you, if you make a sound until I tell you to, I’ll snap your neck. Got it? I don’t even want to hear you breathe.”
She chewed her lip to keep from whimpering and tried to get herself under control. Her heart was pounding so loudly that, for a wild moment, she was afraid he might kill her just for that. What in the hell was she going to do?
The vampires remained silent as they hauled her up the driveway and back to the house she’d left behind. The front door was unlocked, so they opened it and stepped inside.
Adam snapped the light on, then gave a low whistle. He turned slowly to examine his surroundings, and unwittingly gave Katelina a good view of the decimated room. The books were strewn about, some torn nearly in two, and furniture was knocked over. Near their feet lay one of the wing back chairs and shards of something ceramic. A single coal glowed in the ashes of the corner fireplace, but whatever fire had been there was now gone, which was just as well considering that the firewood was scattered across the rug. Not even the walls had escaped attack; a hole was punched near the dining room door and the edges leaked plaster onto the floor below.
“Looks like someone beat us to it,” Adam commented, obviously at a loss.
Nirel snorted. “Yeah, it looks that way. So, now what, eh?”
“I don’t know.” He spun around again and made Katelina dizzy.
“I thought you said ‘e left, remember?” Nirel narrowed his eyes at them. “Maybe she ain’t so reliable, eh? Maybe ‘er brain really is mush?”
“Maybe,” Adam agreed. “All right, we need to figure something out here.” He fell silent, lost in thought, and then suggested suddenly, “She wants him alive, so let’s see if we can find him. We’ll check the rest of the house first. He might be here, after all.”
“Fantastic,” Nirel muttered and threw up his hands. Without looking back, he charged unenthusiastically into the dining room, broken glass crunching beneath his feet.
Adam hauled Katelina through the dark house on his quest. The other rooms were all in the same shape as the front room and there was no sign of Jorick, not that she thought there would be. She’d seen him walk away almost an hour ago. Whoever had done this had obviously snuck into the house when she wasn’t looking, and then snuck back out again. But, why?
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when they reached the end of the hallway. Adam squeezed her tighter to get her attention and demanded quietly, “What’s in there?”
“That - that’s the basement,” she stuttered. “And I don’t know about the other one. He keeps it locked.”
“All right then, let’s split up. You take the basement and I got the locked room.”
Nirel made a noise of disagreement in his throat. “Why do I got the cellar?”
Adam’s tone was fake patience. “Because I have the girl. It’s easier for you to go down the stairs because you’re not carrying anything.”
“Oh.”
With that word they split up. As soon as Nirel had disappeared, Adam unceremoniously dumped Katelina on the hallway floor. He studied the mysterious white door for a moment and then gave it a well placed kick. The wood buckled, but didn’t break, so he kicked it again. It cracked loudly, then splintered and finally broke apart.
Adam pulled her up by her coat and she stared dumbly at the destruction. Long, shard like splinters littered the hallway like tears and what was left of the door hung on half of its hinges. The sight made her stomach lurch painfully. It was something she’d longed to do, but actually seeing it felt wrong; like desecrating a tomb.
“Come on,” Adam ordered, and tossed her through the ruined doorway and into the secret room. She landed painfully on bare floorboards, the breath knocked from her. Adam stepped over her wordlessly, but came to a stop only a couple of feet away. “What the fuck?”
Katelina used her legs to roll herself over and found her face close to an overturned stand. It took her only a second to recognize it as the small table she’d seen through the window, though most of the candles were broken off now. A thick, solid mass of wax still covered the top and ran, frozen, down the side like colorful rivulets of ice. Beyond the stand she could see one of the picture covered walls. Frames hung at odd angles and dark figures stared at her through shattered glass.
Adam slammed his fist into something and bellowed in frustration, “Who attacks and then locks the goddamn door behind themselves?”
He spun towards Katelina and snatched her up, holding her in midair so that her feet dangled and her eyes were level with his. “What in the fuck is going on here? Did you do this?”
“No,” she choked out. “I... I don't... know... what happened. I… I was outside…”
“Well figure it out!” Adam shouted and threw her back to the floor. “Seriously! What the fuck?”
Katelina tried to crawl away, but her hands were still tied behind her back, so the effort was futile; as futile as his demand. How could she figure it out? She’d seen Jorick leave, that was all she knew. He told her to go, he gave her money and then he left. Whatever else had happened, had happened without her.
“Okay,” she told herself. “So, Loren trashed the house. And Kariss sent her goons to get Jorick, but that doesn’t mean I have to die for this. I can get away. I just have to think. I just-”
She broke off when she found herself looking into a familiar set of eyes; only instead of the muted sepia tones of the photograph, they were painted in a startling violet. She was staring at the painting in the large gilt frame, the one she’d been unable to see earlier. Though the hairstyle and clothing were different, she knew now who the subject was: Jorick's dark angel, Velnya.
Katelina gagged on the reality of it, and what little of her courage was left melted away, like ice in July. Her brain quickly assembled the puzzle pieces to form a sick picture, a final, ironic heartbreak: the photographs, the painting, the candles. This had been Jorick’s shrine to the woman he loved more than anything else, and he'd locked himself in here to do what? Pray to her as though she were some goddess?
Nirel climbed through the ruined door, waving a piece of partially burnt paper.
Adam eyed it curiously and asked, “What’s that?”
“Found this in the cellar,” Nirel answered, without really answering. He shoved the paper into his partner’s hand, and then they had a hurried conference of whispered words and frantic gestures. When they parted, Adam came for her. He hauled her up by her coat again and pressed his face close to hers.
“Had a fight did we?” he asked, his grey eyes amused. “You might have mentioned that!”
“You shoulda read it in ‘er mind,” Nirel commented.
Adam’s face twisted in fury. “I told you her mind was a sloppy mess!” He turned his attention back to his captive. “No worries though. This might make things better. Fighting or not, we'll set up a little something he won't be able to resist.”
Amaranthine Special Edition Vol I Page 38